


The New Doctor

by icanseethroughtimesstuff



Series: Thasmin Week [3]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, Fluff and Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-22
Updated: 2019-01-22
Packaged: 2019-10-14 12:51:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,188
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17508974
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/icanseethroughtimesstuff/pseuds/icanseethroughtimesstuff
Summary: When the head of the Children's Ward and Sheffield hospital unexpectedly leaves, nurses Yaz and Grace are faced with getting a new boss.  Yaz could never have predicted the impact she'd have on her.





	The New Doctor

**Author's Note:**

> For Thasmin Week. 22/1 - AU

“Hello love,” Grace O’Brien greets Yasmin Khan with a big smile, “have a good weekend?”

Yaz and Grace were both nurses at Sheffield General Hospital on the Children’s Ward.  Yaz had been there for a few years while Grace had recently transferred from the Oncology department.  Despite this, Yaz looked up to Grace as her mentor and absorbed as much advice from her as she could.  New to the department she may have been but she’d been a nurse since her twenties and was now approaching sixty.  There was very little about the profession she didn’t know.

“Not bad, didn’t get up to much.  Just stayed in and tidied the flat a bit.”  Yaz spoke as she tied her long her back into a pony tail.

“You’re better behaved than I was at your age,” Grace said with a cheeky grin on her face, “I remember once getting caught by my mum sneaking a lad in through my bedroom window.”

Yaz laughed as they made their way onto the ward.  “You’re joking?”

“The best bit was she only caught him cause he slipped and his foot got stuck on the window frame.  Didn’t know blokes could scream like that!”  they both laughed as they headed into the office.

Yaz fired up the computer and checked the internal joint email account for the ward, surprised by the priority notification at the top headed ‘Immediate Change In Staffing’.

“Doctor Jones has left he hospital,” she blurted out in surprise, immediately catching Grace’s attention.

“You’re kidding,” Grace replied.  Doctor Martha Jones was the department head, at least up until that day.  They both skimmed the email picking out key phrases.  ‘Last minute decision’, ‘new opportunity in London’, ‘didn’t want to make a fuss’, ‘new Children’s Ward department head announced soon’.

“She kept that quiet,” Grace said, not managing to keep the surprise from her voice.  While not hugely close with either of them, Doctor Jones had been highly respected by both Yaz and Grace.  She was a very organised and competent department head and they both worried slightly over who they were going to get next.

There was a light knock at the office door and the hospital’s manager, Kate Stewart, strode in and made herself comfortable in a spare chair, nodding towards the computer.  “I see you’ve already heard the news.  Sorry I couldn’t give you more notice but Doctor Jones insisted I keep it quiet until after she’d gone.”

“Any news on who’s replacing her?” Yaz asked curiously.

“That’s why I’m here actually.  We have a new doctor joining the staff from Huddersfield hospital.  Again I would have told you about her sooner but with all the secrecy surrounding Doctor Jones my hands were tied.”  She rubbed the back of her neck ruefully.  “She might be a bit more…hands-on than you’re used to but she comes highly recommended.  She ran the same department at her old hospital for two years to great success.  Applied for the job here for a ‘change of scenery’ apparently.”

“When’s she coming in?”  Grace asked.

“Later this afternoon.  We wanted the change-over to be as quick as possible.  And we thought seeing as you two are the most experienced nurses on the ward it might help her to hit the ground running with both of you backing her up on her first day.”  With that Kate stood up and made towards the door.  “Quick word of warning,” she said, stopping in the doorway and turning to face both of them with a small smile on her face, “she does like to talk.  It was all I could do to keep up with her in her interview.  I think she’ll have a positive influence on the ward.”  With a final smile and nod of her head, Kate left them to it.

“They must think a lot of the new doctor if they’re sending the big boss down to tell us about her,” Grace said, putting the kettle on. Yaz hummed in agreement.  Fresh cups of tea in hand, they both quietly caught up on some paperwork before heading onto the ward floor.

“Hang on,” Yaz exclaimed en route, “Ms Stewart didn’t tell us her name.”

“Oh yeah,” Grace replied looking momentarily confused, “must’ve slipped her mind, she did look a bit harassed.”

“Suppose we’ll find out soon,” Yaz sighed as they stepped onto the ward.  Most of the patients were awake but a few were still asleep.  The morning flew by between chatting to them all, administering medication and updating charts.  Before they knew it they were being relieved for their lunch break.

They both headed back to the office where they closed the door behind them and retrieved their respective lunches from the mini fridge.  Yaz was halfway through her sandwich when she was startled by enthusiastic knocking at the door.

She looked up and could just about make out a person through the small window pane, beaming at her and waving enthusiastically.  The person in question was a blond, hazel eyed woman who seemed to be mouthing ‘can I come in’ at her while pointing at the door.  She nodded and was treated to the biggest smile she’d ever seen before the woman opened the door and entered the room.

She appeared to be about average height and slim, wearing navy blue trousers and a white blouse with a white lab coat over the top.  She was also, Yaz was desperately trying not to think, absolutely gorgeous.

“Hiya gang,” she greeted them cheerfully, “are you Grace and Yasmin?  Only I’ve already been to the ward and they told me you’d be here, and Ms Stewart told me I should introduce myself to you two first and that you’d show me around.”  This all came out in one breath and Yaz couldn’t help thinking Kate had been right about the talking.  That is, assuming this was the new department head and really, who else could she be?

“Yeah that’s us,” Grace eventually replied after absorbing the rapid-fire conversation.  “I’m Grace and that’s Yaz.”

“Hiya,” Yaz managed to squeak out with an awkward little wave, mentally cursing herself for being so uncool.  Grace raised an eyebrow and gave her a far too knowing look which she refused to return.

The new doctor fortunately missed this exchange and sat down.  “Well I’d hate to interrupt your lunch so I’ll sit here and wait with you.  You don’t mind do you?”

Surprised, they both agreed.  The department head had their own office and, as friendly as Doctor Jones had been, she’d never been to the nurse’s office unless she needed something.

“Sorry,” Yaz said, “but with all the excitement today Ms Stewart never told us your name.”

“Course,” the woman said, slapping a palm to her forehead, “silly me.  Here I am sitting myself down with you and you don’t even know who I am!  I’m Jane Smith.  Doctor Jane Smith obviously.  I’m the new department head.”

“Great to meet you, love,” Grace replied, “welcome to Sheffield.”

“Thanks,” she grinned enthusiastically, “love it so far.  Granted I’ve only been here a day but still.”  She stood up and wandered towards the notice board, squinting at some of the notes and scrunching her face into a smile at the thankyou cards from the children.

They made small talk as Yaz and Grace finished up their lunch, both of them finding Jane’s enthusiasm infectious.  Yaz could already tell they were going to get on brilliantly, the other woman’s passion for her job something she could definitely relate to.  After they’d finished eating, they headed back to the ward.  Jane bounced over to some of the other staff to introduce herself as soon as they arrived, leaving the other two together.

"She seems nice,” Grace said, “the chatter’s going to take some getting used to but she’s definitely keen.”

“Yeah, I like her,” replied her as she followed Jane with her eyes, a slight smile on her face.

“No kidding,” Grace chuckled.  Yaz narrowed her eyes in confusion.

“What d’you mean by that?” she asked a little more defensively than she intended.

Grace just smiled at her in a motherly sort of way.  “Didn’t mean anything by it, you just seem quite taken with her is all.”

“Like you said, she seems nice.”  Yaz wished she was imagining the heat rising to her cheeks.

“Course love,” Grace winked at her.  “Anyway, I’ve got a patient I need to see to, why don’t you go back to showing the new boss around?”  Before Yaz could stop her, Grace had headed over to one of their patients and started reading their chart, only stopping to glance back over her at her and nudge her head in the direction of Jane.

Wondering what Grace was playing at, Yaz took the hint and made her way over to the doctor who appeared to have finished introducing herself to everyone and was waiting for the nurse to join her.

“Hello again, just you this time?” she asked, bouncing on the balls of her feet.  She seemed barely able to contain her excitement at any given moment and Yaz couldn’t help but once again admire her enthusiasm.

“Yeah if that’s alright, Grace is just busy with a patient.”  She indicated they head towards the door of the ward so she could show her around the rest of the department.

“Are you kidding, shown around by Yaz?  Amazing.”  Jane said this as if she was stating a fact, as though nothing else in the world could compare to being shown around a hospital by Yaz.  Coming from anyone else she would assume a certain amount of sarcasm, but Jane didn’t seem capable of that.  Everything that came out of her mouth seemed incredibly genuine and designed to buoy up whoever she happened to be speaking with.

Yaz just shrugged and replied, “I’m sure there’s more exciting things we could be doing.”  She immediately regretted the phrasing.  “I just meant like, there’s more exciting things to do than being at work.”

Jane looked baffled by the very notion.  “Not really.  I love my job, best thing in the world.”  She smiled brightly.  “I do have hobbies though.  Like fixing cars.  And biscuits.”

Yaz snorted and looked at her incredulously.  “How can biscuits be a hobby?”

“I love biscuits,” Jane replied, as if this statement ended the conversation.  Yaz just shook her head as they continued on.  They spent about twenty minutes exploring the department, the doctor introducing herself to everyone she met.  The ever-present layer of excitement Jane carried with her seemed to settle into something a little calmer as they walked but never faded completely, always present in the shine of her eyes.

Eventually they made their way back to the ward, and Yaz felt reluctant to part from her.  Department heads did obviously spend time with the patients in their care but spent most of their time locked in the office taking care of the day-to-day duties that kept the department running.  She was worried that after today their interactions would become more professional, relegated to just patient care.

As though reading her mind, Jane smiled at her.  “I’ve got some things I need to take care of now.  Doctor Jones left me plenty of info to go through and if I don’t start now I don’t think I’ll ever get finished.”  She looked down at her feet then smiling shyly before looking back up and holding eye contact with Yaz.  “I’ve got a feeling me and you are going to be really good mates.”  Like everything else she said, this came out like a statement of fact, like she was bringing it into existence just by saying it.

“I’d like that,” Yaz replied, and she couldn’t have kept the smile off her face if she tried.  Jane grinned in response, excused herself politely and headed towards her office.  She watched her go, not really registering the world around her until a tap on the shoulder made her jump.

“So, you’re best friends already?” Grace said, appearing in front of Yaz with a knowing smirk.

Yaz made an attempt to play it off as a joke.  “Well there’s no harm in trying to butter up the boss.”

“Funny though,” Grace said, refusing to back down, “I don’t remember you ever trying to ‘butter up’ Martha.”

“Oh, shut up.”  Once again, she could feel her cheeks heating up as she made her way towards her patients.  Grace laughed and let it drop, but Yaz knew she was in for some ribbing.  For all that they hadn’t known each other all that long Grace could somehow read Yaz like a book, and a perceived crush on the new boss was something that was too good to pass without comment.

Yaz for her part was determined to get this under control before it got out of hand.  Absolutely nothing good could come of it.  For one thing the chances of a department head reciprocating the crush of a nurse were very slim, for seconds the chances of her also being into women were even slimmer.  No, it was  best to ignore this attraction before real feelings started to develop.

*****

A few weeks later, Yaz wondered how that particular plan had gone so wrong.  As it turned out, Jane’s statement that they would be best friends was no empty promise.  A few days after starting in the department, she’d asked Yaz (and some of the other staff too) if they wanted to go out for drinks to get to know each other.  A surprising number of people agreed and the half of the department that weren’t working found themselves at a local karaoke bar that weekend, uncontrollably laughing as their new boss sang Uptown Girl, more than a little merry after a few glasses of wine.

“Hiya Yaz, are you not gonna sing,” she leaned into Yaz’s side after sitting back down.  Turns out she was even more friendly when drunk and a lot more touchy, finding any excuse she could to hug people.  None of this was helping Yaz’s crush, or indeed her heart rate.  She was convinced by this point her face was so red it could probably stop traffic.

“Not really my thing,” she replied laughing, “but you should definitely go again.”

Jane had pouted like a toddler when Yaz said she wouldn’t sing but lit up again at the suggestion of getting back up herself.  “Absolutely,” she exclaimed, grabbing up the song book off the table, “but you have to help me pick a song.”  They both leaned forward to scan the song list and after a moment Yaz realised how close their faces had gotten.  She looked up just as Jane did, making eye contact.  Jane just gave her a soft smile and looked back down at the book, while Yaz tried to control her thudding heart.  God, she was gorgeous, with her huge expressive eyes and killer cheekbones.

Forcing herself to look back down at the songbook, Yaz gave up trying to concentrate when she felt Jane unwittingly rest a hand on her knee.  Yaz glanced across again but the other woman was completely engrossed in the song selection so she decided not to mention it.  It’s not like it was bothering her.

Much later, after she got home, she thought about how it almost felt as if Jane had given her knee a quick squeeze as she pulled her hand away.

*****

Socialising as a group didn’t really come up again, but Jane definitely seemed determined to spark a friendship with Yaz. She quickly learned that the nurse was sometimes a big grumpy in the mornings without a coffee, so she started bringing her one.  “Might as well pick you one up as well since I’m going anyway,” was her excuse, but nobody else ever got one, not even Grace who she’d also bonded with.

“Kate was right about her being more hands-on,” she said to Yaz one day on her lunch break.  “I’ve never known a department head spend so much time on the floor.”  Yaz nodded in agreement.  She had no idea how the doctor did it.  She had a good idea from very brief conversations she’d had with Martha how much paperwork was involved in her job, but Jane seemed to breeze through it while still being able to spend the majority of time with her patients.

And the kids absolutely loved her.  She chatted away with the more confident ones and seemed to have the ability to draw out the shyer ones.  If she was tired or stressed she never let it show, always patient and kind not just with the children but with her employees as well.  Yaz had never known anyone quite like her.

“Thinking about anything in particular?”  Yaz jumped in her chair, splashing a little of the coffee she was holding on her desk.  She realised she’d been staring off into space for at least five minutes while she thought about Jane.  Grace was looking at her with her trademark raised eyebrow and smirk, and she realised she’d been caught.

“Give it a rest,” she said, smiling back, “I know what you’re getting at.”

Grace just sighed and seemingly turned her attention back to her lunch.  “I don’t know why you won’t just admit that you’ve got a thing for her.”

Yaz rolled her eyes.  “Cause even if I did, and I’m not saying I do mind you, what difference would it make?  It’s not like she’d have a thing for me.”

“Says who?” Grace demanded.  “You’re smart, caring, and pretty as far as I’m any judge.”

“Yeah but she’s top brass and I’m just a nurse.”

Grace almost looked offended.  “Oi, there’s nothing ‘just’ about being a nurse.”

“I know, I didn’t mean it like that,” Yaz said defensively.

Grace softened, “I know what you meant, but she doesn’t strike me as the type who’d turn her nose up at someone because of their job.”  The sly smirk returned then.  “And I happen to know she likes women.”

Yaz’s head shot up.  “What?  How did you find that out?”

Grace stood, putting her mug by the sink.  “Saw a little rainbow flag on the bookshelf in her office the other day when I popped in.  I asked her about it and she told me.  And before you start, she said I could tell whoever I liked so I’m not outing her,” she cut Yaz off before she could jump in.

This gave Yaz pause for thought.  Jane was definitely friendlier with her than anyone else in the department and had hinted more than once at spending more time with her outside of work.  Could it be possible…but no, there’s no way she could be interested in her.  Jane was so far out of her league it wasn’t even funny.  It did add another layer to the moment they’d shared at the karaoke bar weeks ago now.

Yaz could sense herself careening towards a Jane-induced mental spiral and decided to stop that train of thought before she over-analysed every moment she’d ever shared with the doctor.  She had no way of knowing if she was interested in her without outright asking her which she had no intention of doing.  She was already increasingly awkward around her as it was without making it even worse.

Unfortunately her brain decided to take a holiday the next morning when Jane brought her coffee, and midway through their usual chat about what they’d gotten up to the evening before, Yaz blurted out, “I’m bi.”

Jane blinked at her.  “Beg your pardon?”

Yaz had never felt such a burning desire to launch herself into the sun.  Pun intended.

“Um.  I’m bi.  As in bisexual.  I just.  I wanted you to know.  Apparently.”

“Oh.  Right.”  The doctor just stared at her.  Then the corners of her mouth started to twitch.  Yaz could feel herself trying not to burst into manic laughter.  When she noticed Jane clearly trying desperately hard not to laugh she couldn’t help a giggle escaping.  Pretty soon they were both in absolute hysterics.

“I can’t believe I just said that out of the blue,” Yaz managed to get out while gasping for breath.

“It was brilliant,” Jane grinned, “I’ve never had someone confess their sexuality to me in the middle of a conversation about weeknight telly before.”

Yaz’s laughter died down as she tried to get the conversation back onto a more sensible footing.  “Sorry about that, that was a bit uncomfortable.”

“I’m not uncomfortable.”

“I meant for me.”

“Ah.”

The doctor’s grin somehow got even bigger.  “If it makes you any less uncomfortable I’m a lesbian.  A big one.”

Yaz grinned at her, playing along.  “How big?”

“Oh at least as big as Big Ben,” she winked.  Yaz nearly died.

The smile slowly slid off Jane’s face and she suddenly looked nervous.  Yaz had never seen her nervous before.  At least not this kind of nervous.  She’d had that sort of giddy mania around her on her first day, but this was more like she was becoming withdrawn and unsure before her eyes.  “Just so we’re clear, I was flirting with you that time.  You know, at karaoke.”

Yaz’s heart seemed to stop for a second before picking back up at twice it’s normal rhythm.  “Really?”

“Yeah, really really.”  Jane was fidgeting with her hands and looking everywhere but at Yaz.  Is that okay?”

It took a moment for all of this to register in Yaz’s brain, and for her to realise she’d been asked for some kind of confirmation.  By the time her brain clicked back into gear, Jane looked like she was about to bolt out of the door.

“Yes, yes, that’s very okay,” she rushed out, “I was flirting with you too.”

Jane’s face brightened up.  “You were?  Oh I’m so hopeless, I can’t believe I didn’t even notice!”

Yaz laughed then, out of happiness or relief she couldn’t really tell.  “To be fair I couldn’t tell either.  Or at least I wasn’t sure.”

“Well this is just brilliant,” Jane beamed before her face scrunched up in confusion.  “What do we do now then?”

Yaz could feel herself get warm and her palms start sweating.  “Well,” she said a little shakily, “usually when two people like each other they go on dates and stuff.  What do you think?”

“What do I think?  About going on a date with you?”  Jane’s smile was practically splitting her face in half.  “I think that’s the most amazing thing I’ve ever heard!”  She suddenly dropped to one knee in front of Yaz and took one of her hands.  Yaz felt like she was about to have her third heart attack since this conversation started.  “Yasmin Khan.  Would you do me the honour of going on a date with me?”

“Yes you daft woman,” she laughed, “I thought you were going to propose then or something.”

“Nah, I’ll save that for the third date,” Jane responded, her eyes twinkling, “I feel like that’s more of a third date thing.”

Yasmin raised her eyebrow at the mad woman kneeling in front of her.  “Oh, so there’s going to be a third date is there?”

Jane looked like she was about to respond when they both turned at the sound of someone clearing their throat from the doorway.  Grace and Kate Stewart were both standing there, Grace clearly trying to hold back laughter, Kate stuck somewhere between shock and amusement.

“It’s not what it looks like,” Yaz blurted out.  Grace just walked off and called back over her shoulder, “I’d better be maid of honour!”

Jane leapt to her feet, holding out her hand for Kate.  “Ms Stewart hi, good to see you.”

“I came down to check how you were settling in,” she said, taking her hand and shaking it with a raised eyebrow, “I didn’t expect you to have settled in this well.”

“Oh,” Jane cleared her throat, “well, you see, the thing is…”

Kate held up her hand, stopping the impending ramble.  “My staff’s personal lives are none of my business Doctor Smith.”  She looked between Jane and Yaz with a stern expression.  “Maybe a bit more professionalism in the workplace however?”

“Yes absolutely, no problem whatsoever,” Jane stammered out.

“I’ll go and wait in your office for a one month catch up, come by whenever you’ve sorted out…whatever this is.”  She made no attempt to keep the amusement out of her voice as she headed towards Jane’s office.

Yaz let out a breath, and grinned at Jane, who smiled back.  “Well, that was awkward.”

Jane laughed.  “Yeah.  I’d better get going.  I’ll pop back in about ten minutes and we can sort out that date.”

Yaz made her way back to the ward, fully prepared for whatever jokes Grace had ready for her.  After all, it was worth it.

*****

As it turned out, there was a third date.  Jane didn’t propose, but they did hit another relationship milestone that night.  Dozing off in her doctor’s arms, Yaz couldn’t honestly say she was disappointed.

At all.

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and comments are always appreciated x


End file.
